South African Pickled Fish

There is a tradition in South Africa whereby the dish to be eaten on Good Friday is pickled fish. I looked up where this tradition came from and this is what I found.

The unromantic argue that the practice of pickling fish dates back to a time when no fishing boats went out over the Easter weekend – so no fresh fish was available – a historical lack of domestic refrigeration and the (sadly long gone) cheapness of fish in the Cape, which made it an affordable staple food.

Others assert that there are religious roots to the pickling practice.

Good Friday church services have historically involved Cape Christians spending most of the day in their houses of worship and returning home at 3pm (the time at which Jesus is presumed to have died) to break their fast with pickled fish and hot cross buns.

This pickled fish recipe is best made a few days before you would like to eat it. Leaving the dish in the fridge for a few days let’s the flavours develop.